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Resources » Paper

Ichiro Torayama et al. (2002) Japanese Worm Meeting "Isolation and Analysis of Mutants - Defective in Olfactory Learning Behavior in C.elegans"

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    Publication type:
    Meeting_abstract
    WormBase ID:
    WBPaper00011966

    Ichiro Torayama, Takeshi Ishihara, & Isao Katsura (2002). Isolation and Analysis of Mutants - Defective in Olfactory Learning Behavior in C.elegans presented in Japanese Worm Meeting. Unpublished information; cite only with author permission.

    The nematode C.elegans shows behavioral plasticity in response to environmental stimuli. For instance, animals conditioned with NaCl and food migrate toward NaCl, while animals conditioned with NaCl and starvation do not migrate toward NaCl (Saeki S et al, 2001). This learning behavior can be regarded as associative learning, because it is probably based on modulation by the integration of paired stimuli, food and chemical stimuli. However, only limited results have been obtained on the cellular and molecular events in the sensing of food and the integration of paired signals in associative learning. Food and starvation also modulate sensory adaptation to AWC-sensed odorants. Food inhibits sensory adaptation (Ishihara T and Katsura I, personal communication), while starvation enhances sensory adaptation (Colbert HA and Bargmann CI, 1997). On the basis of these observations, I developed an assay system to isolate mutants defective in olfactory learning behavior. In the assay system, wild-type animals were exposed to AWC-sensed odorants in the presence or absence of food, and then tested for their response to the same odorants. The results showed that animals conditioned with butanone and food exhibited enhanced chemotaxis to butanone, while those conditioned with benzaldehyde (or isoamyl alcohol) and food did not change the efficiency of chemotaxis to the same odorants. Using this assay system, we screened 5,000 genomes and obtained 8 mutants defective in the olfactory learning behavior. Among these mutants, ut305 and ut306 showed defects in olfactory learning behavior induced by butanone and food. Interestingly, ut305 also showed defects in adaptation to benzaldehyde, while ut306 showed normal adaptation to benzaldehyde. This observation may indicate that a specific pathway for butanone exists in olfactory learning. We mapped ut305 to LG X and ut306 to LG V. Further mapping and rescue experiments are underway to determine the identities of these genes.


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